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Geography
West Bengal was created as a constituent state of the Indian
union on 15 August 1947 as the result of partition of the
undivided British Indian province of Bengal into West Bengal.
West Bengal covers the bottle neck of India in the east,
stretching from Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in
the south. It is bounded on the north by Sikkim and Bhutan, on
the east by Assam and Bangladesh. On the south by the Bay of
Bengal and on the west by Orissa, Bihar and Nepal. It has
therefore, three international frontiers-to the north, east
and west. The state lies between 27 o 13'15" and 21 o 25'24"
north latitudes and 85 o 48'20" and 89 o 53'04" east
longitudes.
West Bengal has two natural divisions. The Himalayan north
comprising the districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch
Bihar and the alluvial plain that lies south of it. West
Bengal is essentially a flat, featureless alluvial plain large
portion of it being a part of delta of river Ganga, only one
per unit of its area in the far north is really mountainous.
The plateau fringe and the Purulia triangle of upland along
her western border, comprises about six per cent of the total
area. The northern part of the district of Darjeeling is hilly
to mountanious. Its border to the north being fenced with
rising mountain ranges of the Himalayas. Downwards, the
mountains slope down to hills and as the borders of Jalpaiguri
district are reached, the hills give way to rolling humid
plains known as the Dooars. The Singalila range along the
border with Nepal rises to nearly 3,700 metres, and is well
wooded with rhododendron trees. The Dooars forests are densely
wooded with evergreen vegetation and are the resorts of wild
animal including the Royal Bengal tiger, rhinoceros, elephant,
antelope and snakes including Python.
The central region or the 'Malda Pouch' comprising the
districts of Malda and West Dinajpur is geographically an
older area than the Gangetic plains below. It has a slightly
higher land level watered inter-mittently by hill rivers among
which the Mahananda with its winding course is the largest. It
pours into the Ganga a little above Farakka in Bangaladesh.
The southern region, starting in the north from the point
where the Ganga demarcates in the boundaries of the districts
of Malda and Murshidabad consists of two geographically
distinct areas. "Western Plateau Fringe" consist of the
Purulia district and the western part of the districts of
Birbhum, Burdwan, Bankura and Midnapur. The highest point of
this plateau, named Goraburu Hill in Purulia district is 677
metres and the lowest point is 85 metres above the sea level
where the up land ends in Midnapur district on the northern
bank of the Subarbarekha river the altitude falls to 50 metres
above the sea level. The plateau forms the tail-end of the
chhartisgarh state of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.
The rest of the southern region is a vast alluvial plain,
except for the western plateau fringe and the sub-montane area
of Darjeeling district, the entire length of West Bengal is
one rolling up land. The vast alluvial plains of the state
spread from Jalpaiguri and Siliguri in the north to the
Sundarban creeks and its Kanthi littoral in the south. The
southern region is bisected by the Bhagirathi (Hooghly)river,
one of the two forks of the Ganga that take off from top of
Murshidabad district. The plain land on the western bank of
the Hooghly river is largely formed by the deposits carried by
a system of hill rivers rising in the western hills that pour
their waters into the Hooghly and form part of the Gangetic
delta. The main river in this system is the Damodar, Bengal's
'River of Sorrow'. The plains to the east are watered by
distributaries of the Ganga branching off in West Bengal as
well as Bangladesh. One feature of these plains is the
existence of shallow lagoons called 'dahas'or 'boonrs', formed
by beds of distributaries that got silted up above and below
and of low marsh lands called bells that become flooded during
the rainy season.
The coastal fringe likewise is of two distinct characters,
west of the Hooghly the coastal strip in Midnapur district
called the Contai or Kanthi strip. It consist of sand dunes
and salt marshes mingled with each other. The marshes are
formed behind well-developed sand bars. At places there are
large shifting sand dunes, which have a tendency to blow
landwards and encroach upon the cultivated land behind them.
Vistas of Casuarinas plantation are being developed all along
the coast to fix the dunes and stop sea erosion. The Japanese
quick growing creeper Kudzu is also being planted. The natural
vegetation consists of clumps of Keya bushes. Their fragrant
flowers are collected to produce the famous Kewra scent.
History
During the period of the Vedic age Bengal was called Vanga and
is said to have been inhabited by several groups of people
belonging to various races. During the Mahabharatha period
this area was divided into small kingdoms and principalities
ruled by chieftains. The Aryans inhabited Bengal during the
post Vedic period. Many dynasties exercised their control over
Bengal. The Palas, Pundras, the Sen etc were a few whose rule
was noteworthy. The Palas ruled for more than four hundred
years. Owing to its favourable location this region had trade
with Cambodia, Burma, Sri Lanka, the Deccan and the Persian
Gulf. The Navigable parts of Ganga made it favourable for
internal trade and communication. They had contacts till
Taxila. In about the 3rd century the Mauryan and the Guptas
established their rule. The Palas established their strong
rule from about 800AD till the 11th century after which the
Senas ruled. The economy, arts and culture of this region
developed under the rule of the Hindu dynasties. In the
beginning of the 13th century Bengal became a part of the
Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughals. The influence of the
Muslims led to conversions besides development of art and
culture and cottage industries that produced items such as
Muslin which were in great demand around the world.
The proximity to the sea also resulted in the influence with
the foreigners -- the Portuguese in the early 16th century,
the Dutch in about 1632, the French influence between
1673-1676, the Danish in 1676 and British in 1690. The
increased influence of the British resulted in conflicts with
the Nawab. The diplomatic efforts with a series of
conspiracies resulted in the ultimate capture of power in
Bengal by the British. The battle of Plassey (1757) and the
battle of Buxar (1764) sealed the fate of the Mughal rule. The
British later brought forth the Dual system of administration
In 1905 the English partitioned Bengal on the basis of
religion. Calcutta remained the Capital of the British empire
in India till 1911. After that the capital was shifted from
Calcutta to Delhi.
In 1947 when India became independent Bengal was partitioned
between India and Pakistan. India's share came to be known as
West Bengal and Pakistan's share was called East Pakistan.
Later, the state of Cooch Behar, French enclave of
Chandranagore and some parts of Bihar were added to West
Bengal. Bengal represents the land that possess a distinct
culture with its indigenous art and crafts and make it an
important part of the Indian Union.
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Begin with Kolkata the capital of West Bengal, a city replete
with gardens, museums, temples, churches and mosques and lots
of character! A walk in the moonlight at the Victoria
Memorial, shopping at New Market and a ride in the subway are
a few must dos when in the city.
Spend time on the beaches at Bakkhali and Digha. Check out
terracotta temples at Vishnupur and French ruins at
Chandernagar. Enjoy the peace, calm and tranquility at
Tagore's Shantiniketan - visit the campus of the Vishwabharti
University or travel to Murshidabad, to glimpse a completely
different lifestyle, that of rich and decadent nawabs.
Wind your way up snaking mountain roads to arrive at the hill
stations of Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Watch the sun rise in
the Himalayas and bathe the snow clad Kanchenjunga with molten
gold. See rhinos at Jaladapara Sanctuary, bird watch at
Raiganj Sanctuary and try and catch a glimpse of the royal
Bengal tiger at Sunderbans. |
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